This page should be useful to students as they draft their research papers and plan their presentation:
An issue to keep in mind: Research and Opinion: There is some overlap between essays and research papers. Essays are designed to persuade, and often use research to bolster credibility. Research papers, while not free of opinions, are more slanted towards the presentation of discovered information than persuasion to a given viewpoint. Choice of a topic is always based in one's values, but the primary purpose of research papers is to inform, analyze, and classify rather than persuade.
Research Paper: The paper you write will simply (1) Summarize what you have learned in your research. (2) Document your direct methods (your research strategies and your scholarly sources). The paper should be around 4000 words (six pages). In structure, the paper should first identify the topics. Next, the paper should present the major points, issues, and information you've discovered in your inquiries. Finally, the paper should conclude with an extended statement of the perspective(s) that you attained through the research you've completed. Finally, you document your methods or sources. This can be accomplished within the text in the form of footnotes, in a bibliography which lists the sources you've used, or in an appendix describing direct research methods. The paper is due May 6.
Style and Style Manuals: The research paper is the primary form of professional communication for scientists and scholars. For that reason, style and form are important and often rigidly specified. You should name the style manual (MLA, University of Chicago, etc.) on the title page. Just choose your style manual and then use it consistently. In general you should use the style manual that people use for professional papers in your major. Use MLA as default. Here is a pretty good look at the MLA essentials that the Purdue writing lab assembled.
Presentations: Short Presentations (Ten minutes plus five minutes for questions and discussion) based on the research summarized in the research paper will be scheduled for the last few days of class. As stated above, this presentation can be a conventional formal presentation of the research, a poster presentation, or a PowerPoint multi-media presentation. Here are some tips. Presentations should both entertain and inform. Bells and whistles are not necessary but do engage your audience, make connections to issues of interest in previous meetings and presentations and pay attention to eye contact and diction. Presentations should be precise. They should not run longer than the allotted time and should not vary in pace (If you have to rush, do so consistently). Using media is taking risks - to minimize the risks, prepare - if possible, do a test run of the video, music, PowerPoint, etc. on the machine you will use. Otherwise, cross your fingers and pray. If you collaborate, work out your “choreography.” To open discussion use open-ended questions that connect to the experiences, opinions, and thoughts of your audience. End discussion explicitly. Be courteous throughout and at the end thank the audience for their attention to your work.
NOTE: This is the first paragraph of the UNM Policy on Academic Dishonesty: “Each student is expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity in academic and professional matters. The University reserves the right to take disciplinary action up to and including dismissal against any student who is found guilty of academic dishonesty or otherwise fails to meet the standards. Any student judged to have engaged in academic dishonesty in course work may receive a reduced or failing grade for the work in question.” Pathfinder, The UNM Student Handbook p. 58
Rubric Summary: Research Paper and Presentation
Paper:
Length – 6 pages of text - plus citations, bibliography
Stylistic features:
Font - professional (Times New Roman, Arial, Courier), 12 point
Spacing – double – long quotes indented and single spaced
Margins – 1.00 (1.25 is the professional standard)
Printing on both sides of the paper is OK (one-sided is the professional standard)
Sources: five and include a parenthetical evaluation of the credibility of your sources
Citations: footnote or parenthetical according to your style manual.
Bibliographic Style: consistent, and according to your style manual
Parameters of Assessment/evaluation: clarity, balance, challenge (how much you learned through the research), accuracy, structure, and presentation.
Presentation:
Length - 10 minutes plus 5 devoted to discussion (note it is alway acceptable for a presentation to be shorter than the time alloted).
Parameters of Assessment/evaluation: content coverage clarity, professionalism, poise, connection to audience, balance (between entertainment and educational value).
An issue to keep in mind: Research and Opinion:
There is some overlap between essays and research papers. Essays are designed to persuade, and often use research to bolster credibility. Research papers, while not free of opinions, are more slanted towards the presentation of discovered information than persuasion to a given viewpoint. Choice of a topic is always based in one's values, but the primary purpose of research papers is to inform, analyze, and classify rather than persuade.
Research Paper:
The paper you write will simply (1) Summarize what you have learned in your research. (2) Document your direct methods (your research strategies and your scholarly sources). The paper should be around 4000 words (six pages). In structure, the paper should first identify the topics. Next, the paper should present the major points, issues, and information you've discovered in your inquiries. Finally, the paper should conclude with an extended statement of the perspective(s) that you attained through the research you've completed. Finally, you document your methods or sources. This can be accomplished within the text in the form of footnotes, in a bibliography which lists the sources you've used, or in an appendix describing direct research methods. The paper is due May 6.
Style and Style Manuals:
The research paper is the primary form of professional communication for scientists and scholars. For that reason, style and form are important and often rigidly specified. You should name the style manual (MLA, University of Chicago, etc.) on the title page. Just choose your style manual and then use it consistently. In general you should use the style manual that people use for professional papers in your major. Use MLA as default. Here is a pretty good look at the MLA essentials that the Purdue writing lab assembled.
Presentations:
Short Presentations (Ten minutes plus five minutes for questions and discussion) based on the research summarized in the research paper will be scheduled for the last few days of class. As stated above, this presentation can be a conventional formal presentation of the research, a poster presentation, or a PowerPoint multi-media presentation. Here are some tips. Presentations should both entertain and inform. Bells and whistles are not necessary but do engage your audience, make connections to issues of interest in previous meetings and presentations and pay attention to eye contact and diction. Presentations should be precise. They should not run longer than the allotted time and should not vary in pace (If you have to rush, do so consistently). Using media is taking risks - to minimize the risks, prepare - if possible, do a test run of the video, music, PowerPoint, etc. on the machine you will use. Otherwise, cross your fingers and pray. If you collaborate, work out your “choreography.” To open discussion use open-ended questions that connect to the experiences, opinions, and thoughts of your audience. End discussion explicitly. Be courteous throughout and at the end thank the audience for their attention to your work.
NOTE: This is the first paragraph of the UNM Policy on Academic Dishonesty:
“Each student is expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity in academic and professional matters. The University reserves the right to take disciplinary action up to and including dismissal against any student who is found guilty of academic dishonesty or otherwise fails to meet the standards. Any student judged to have engaged in academic dishonesty in course work may receive a reduced or failing grade for the work in question.” Pathfinder, The UNM Student Handbook p. 58
Rubric Summary: Research Paper and Presentation
Paper:
Presentation:
Parameters of Assessment/evaluation: content coverage clarity, professionalism, poise, connection to audience, balance (between entertainment and educational value).